Chapter 416: The Edge Before The War

Around the Hell Gates Arena, the crowd was fucking insane. Seriously, even for a huge event, the amount of people packed around the place was ridiculous.

You had these shitty ticket scalpers screaming their heads off, hiking up the prices every single hour. Some of those tickets were selling for so much money you could probably feed a whole family for months with the profit. Then you had the street vendors everywhere, selling fake jerseys and banners of Nash, Seth, or the Baby-Boom girls, depending on who the hell the customer was rooting for.

The lines to get inside were hundreds of meters long. The whole crowd felt like it was vibrating with electricity, people were singing, screaming names, and cheering like crazy every time someone who looked vaguely like a famous player walked by.

Inside the stands, the place was already packed even though the game hadn’t started. A few familiar faces were scattered in the crowd.

Alexia was sitting with the rest of the Falcons in the section reserved for pro players from other teams. She had this pensive look on her face, probably because of that talk she had with Victoria. You could tell something had shifted in her. She kept staring at the empty court, almost like she was imagining herself out there playing, finally recovering a dying flame in her. It was a future she wouldn’t have even dreamed of a few days ago.

Next to her, Rain was just... Rain. He stayed quiet, watching the crowd with that same "I don’t give a fuck" calm he always has. Griffin, on the other hand, was a nervous wreck. His leg was bouncing up and down, and he kept glancing at the field and then checking his phone for no real reason. He kept looking down at the Blacklist jersey he had hidden under his jacket, like he was trying to make sure it was still there.

"Must feel weird, huh?" Griffin said, his voice shaking a bit. "Being a spectator instead of actually being out there on the court."

Alexia didn’t even look away from the field.

"It always feels weird," she answered. "The real question is how much longer we have to settle for this shit."

A bit further away in another section, Snow was sitting there looking bored as hell. He had his arms crossed and didn’t seem impressed by the chaos around him. He was used to being the one on the court during these moments, and oh boy, he’d been through plenty of them.

Beside him, Chloé wouldn’t shut the fuck up. She’d been talking since the moment they sat down, her notebook open on her lap with a bunch of stats scribbled all over the pages. Her eyes were practically glowing because she was so excited to see Nash play for the third time.

"You’re actually gonna take notes for the whole fucking match, aren’t you?" Snow asked. It wasn’t really a question; he just sounded exhausted by her energy.

"Obviously!" Chloé replied, not even looking up from her notes. "This is historic, okay? Like, actually historic."

"You say that about every match that’s halfway decent."

"This time it’s different," she insisted, finally looking at him. "Have you seen his stats? Like, have you REALLY looked at them?"

"I’ve got better things to do than count points for some Underground rookie," Snow shot back. But he let his eyes drift toward the court for a second, showing he actually gave a shit even if he didn’t want to admit it out loud.

Up in the luxury boxes, Mirage had arrived with his usual crew. He had that charming smile plastered on his face, waving to people and shaking hands like he was running for election for the biggest piece of shit in town.

Two other figures were with him, both of them well-known in the underground Breakball scene.

The first, Kaito, was a scrawny, nervous guy with tan skin and spiky short hair. He had a ring in his left ear and everyone called him "The Flash."

The guy was freakishly fast on defense; he could basically steal a pass before the other player even finished the move. He walked a bit behind Mirage, eyes darting all over the crowd. He was always analyzing everything like some kind of reflex, totally unable to just chill out and enjoy the moment like a normal person.

Then there was Maya Cross. She was a giant, standing a full head taller than Jaz, and even Nash, about 7 feet tall. Her build was way too big for these shitty stadium seats.

She had wide shoulders, a flat back, and abs that were clearly popping under a black crop top that was way too short. Every time she breathed, the fabric shifted, showing the underside of her tits. Her breasts were huge, firm, and heavy, squashed into the fabric without a bra, her nipples poking through the cloth every time a breeze hit her.

Below that, she had a hard stomach, an exposed belly button, and thick hips that filled out her low-rise cargo pants. The waistband sat so low on her ass that you could see the line of her panties whenever she sat down. Her skin was dark, smooth, and glistening under the lights.

She wore a leather jacket hanging off her shoulders and some chains over her chest, right in the cleavage. She was chewing gum slowly, looking bored out of her mind with half-closed eyes.

People called her "The Fortress." In the Underground, she was known as the strongest woman player, way above even Jaz. Everyone in the circuit knew she was on a different level, so nobody ever bothered to check.

"You really think this rookie can last against Seth?" Kaito asked. He sat down, his eyes already locked on the empty court below.

"That’s the whole point, isn’t it?" Mirage replied with a smug grin, getting comfortable in his seat. "This is the first real test for our generation against the Beast. None of us actually faced him yet."

Mirage turned to Maya. His eyes lingered a second too long on her crop top, staring at the curve of her tits and the way those pants hugged her hips.

"But you," he added, giving her a wink, "you don’t need a test. You just show up, sit down, and the whole sector misses their next shot. If you leave me a little room on those thighs, I’ll commentate the match for you. Real close."

Maya didn’t even look at him. She just pulled out her phone and started scrolling with her thumb, the gum popping softly between her teeth.

"Cute," she said, totally unimpressed. "Keep going. Just... lower. Like, on the floor. That’s where you have a chance."

Kaito burst out laughing. Mirage put a hand on his chest, acting like he was heartbroken.

"You’re not even listening to me."

"I am," Maya said, still staring at her screen. "It’s just as interesting as dog shit in the next alley. Speaking of which, if I had to choose, the dog shit would have a better shot."

Kaito completely lost it, almost fainting from missing air.

"Honestly," Mirage sighed, slouching in his seat with a dramatic groan, "I wish I had my own big girl... Like, Nash... Dude scored big with Jasmine. Why the hell don’t I have my own buff warrior woman on my roster?"

Maya popped her gum again, eyes still on the phone.

"Because you’re annoying," she said, still ignoring him. "And because Jasmine chose a fine man. Not a talking peacock."

Inside the Colossus’ locker room, the vibe was a little tense, but every guy in there was feeling it differently. Some were jittery, some were dead silent.

The coach walked a final lap around the room. He wasn’t giving some big, cinematic "we can do this" speech; he was just reminding them of the plays.

"We know the plan," the coach said, stopping in the middle of the room. "Shut down Nash Blaze. If he doesn’t score, everything else just falls into place."

Seth didn’t say a word. He didn’t feel the need to.

To him, the way the other guys talked about Nash was kind of stupid. Calling someone a "threat" felt like admitting you were scared, and in Seth’s head, being scared was for the dead. Although he often mentioned it, he wasn’t interested in "analyzing" the competition or worrying about how good Nash was.

He was just there to win. That was the only thing that mattered. It wasn’t a matter of how, but when.

A staff member knocked softly on the door and poked his head in. "Five minutes, guys."

Vex finally peeled himself off his locker, tilting his head left and right until his neck made a loud crack. Cross caught the ball with a smooth flick of his wrist, a small, confident smirk on his face. Kael stood up, rolling his shoulders to loosen them up, his eyes looking like he was staring at something miles away. Hall just slapped his hands together once and looked ready to kill.

Seth just stood there. He didn’t move a muscle, gripping the ball tight in his hands, staring at the wall like he was trying to burn a hole through it.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the arena, the Blacklist locker room was a whole different vibe. Instead of everyone sticking to their own little groups, it was just one big, happy mess of people mixing together.

Jaz was focused, carefully wrapping tape around her wrists while discussing with Nia about the best way to handle Vex’s rhythm once they got under the circle. Nearby, Aiko lunged for a water bottle Miko had chucked from across the room, but she missed it by an inch, making a clumsy sort of grab.

Kai was doubling over with laughter at some joke Hina had just dropped, and Yuna was just chilling, sitting right on Chio’s lap while the two of them pored over a tactical sketch scribbled on a whiteboard.

Then there was Rumi. With five minutes left before the game begun, she’d already stripped off every single piece of clothing. Totally naked, as usual, she just strolled around between the benches like it was the most normal thing in the world, which honestly just pissed Dahlia off.

Right in the middle of all this chaos Nash was Nashing. He was lounging on a bench with Alicia perched on his lap. She was stripped down too, her bare chest pressed tight against his. Nash had his hands full of her tits, squeezing them firmly and kneading the soft flesh with a slow rhythm. Alicia let out a soft, wet moan every time he squeezed, her head lolling back against his shoulder with her eyes half-closed in total pleasure.

The funny thing, nobody else in the room really gave a shit. This kind of thing had happened so often that it basically became part of the furniture, and with the passive he had obtained from that time he fucked Lina in the crowd, it became another form of chameleon power.

Officially? They called it a "relaxation ritual," claiming it was some fancy way to loosen up the pressure before the match.

But, well, nobody actually believed that bullshit, but the excuse had been around so long that nobody even bothered to question it anymore.

Then, Victoria stepped into the room. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at her.

Rumi was completely naked a second ago, but suddenly, bam, she was fully dressed, like some kind of magic. Dahlia jumped a little, blinking her eyes in confusion, wondering how the fuck that just happened.

Victoria walked up to the front of the group.

"You all know what tonight is about," she started. Her voice was lower than usual. "This isn’t just another win on a scoreboard."

Her eyes watched every single face in the room.

"Last time, they humiliated you. Publicly. In front of the whole Underground. And some of you probably thought, ’Maybe they’re right. Maybe we actually are pieces of shit.’ and I do believe it was right. You were useless pièces of shit and I rooted for your destruction that day. And I got what I wanted."

A few of the girls looked down, feeling uncomfortable.

"That was a ridiculous joke," Victoria continued. Her voice started getting louder and stronger with every word. "Your play, that is, not my words. You just weren’t who you are now. The versions of you that got absolutely wrecked over were just a bunch of pathetic idols. You were scared, and you were being run by a corporate company of dying vultures. Of course you weren’t competitive back then, you were the fucking jokes."

The girls looked at each other, confused. They were like, Wait, is she motivating us or just dissing us? They shifted their feet, not sure if they should be offended or hyped.

Victoria straightened her back.

"Tonight, however, I don’t see those pathetic idols from yesterday. I don’t feel that weakness in you anymore."

The girls flinched, this time, they were hanging on her every word.

"Because," Victoria continued, "my idols destroy everything in their path, no matter who the fuck the victim is," she said, her voice now booming, filling the entire room.

As she kept talking, they all started to get it. She wasn’t putting them down; she was killing the old version of them to make room for the new ones.

"My idols don’t just want a ’good game’ or a simple win. My idols crush people. And if they can kill the victim, they will. I want you to go out there and remind them exactly who the predator is and who the bitch is."

A shiver went through the group. The girls straightened up, their fists clenching.

"Get the fuck out there!" Victoria practically vented her anger out. "And give me a bloodbath worthy of your revenge!"

The room exploded. The girls let out a collective roar, screaming at the top of their lungs and slamming their fists together. The adrenaline hit them all at once like a drug. They started charging toward the exit before actually being called.

Victoria watched them leave for a moment. Her eyes met Nash’s, and a small smile appeared on her lips.

In that moment, Nash felt something. He didn’t even need words to understand it. The speech he just heard wasn’t coming from the cold, calculating boss he used to know. This was the human side of her.

This was the woman who built Graves Anthem and the one who was the engine behind the glory years of Midnight Rest. She was the one who took all those hidden horrors and somehow turned them into something that saved so many people.

He realized, almost without thinking about it, that his loyalty to her, the path that the System seemed to have pushed him onto from the start, was just another part of her power.

She had this almost supernatural ability to pull every available force behind her, taking everyone’s individual pain and turning it into a collective weapon aimed at one single goal.

It wasn’t surprising that he wanted her to be the face of the entire Underground after all.

The whole team stormed out of the locker room, leaving the silence behind and stepping straight into the growing roar of the crowd waiting for them.